Poor growing conditions generally yield a crop that is short, thin, and light. Such a crop brings with it a common problem especially when straight combining crops such as wheat and in particular Durum wheat. The problem is that the cut crop builds up on the header table just rearward of the knife causing bunching and poor feeding into the combine. Such poor and uneven feeding causes many problems such as, loss of crop material on the header table, grain loss over the combine sieves due to bunching, excessive wear and tear on the combine due to bunching, and the necessary reduction in travel speed due to material build up on the header table.
In an effort to obviate the above problems several different approaches have been taken as exhibited in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,617,787, 2,909,022 and Canadian Patent 751,113. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,787, there is disclosed a front conveyor means between the cutting means and a conventional table mounted auger which carries the cut grain to a central feeder and into the combine body to be threshed. The front conveyor means is between side plates of the machine body. The conveyors include belt means moved by a rotary drive. Applicants apparatus has none of the above elements but functions in a similar manner. There is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,909,022 a pneumatic assisted means of conveying. The conventional mechanical reels are adapted to conduct a flow of air for blowing of the cut grain stalks in the direction of the auger. Applicants apparatus is completely mechanical, is extremely simple and inexpensive but is equal in ability to carry out the desired function. In the Canadian Patent "113", we again have an air assist means for conveying short, light crops to the table auger. This is done by means of air being conducted to outlets in the knife guards. As pointed out heretofore applicants apparatus requires no moving belts or air assists since it is a series of specially designed teeth mounted on the reciprocating cutter knife at a specific location and directed at a desired angle. The teeth are low in cost compared to the air assist types, or the belt conveyor types, they are light in weight, they can remain installed under all conditions and they perform extremely well.